


Amaretto

by StrategicDilemma



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Bartenders, Businessmen, DressedinPinkShipping, Drinking, Explicit Language, F/M, Partners in Crime, Theft, bederia, some themes of anti-capitalism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:15:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22520860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrategicDilemma/pseuds/StrategicDilemma
Summary: Bede is a bartender at a jazz lounge located in a crowded business district. One night, a girl comes in and sits at the bar, and he gets tangled up in her shenanigans.Bartender AU. Rated T for drinking/alcohol and slight language.
Relationships: Beet | Bede/Yuuri | Gloria
Comments: 3
Kudos: 63





	Amaretto

**Author's Note:**

> Okay first of all, this got so much longer than I expected but I refuse to have more than one chapter fics going at the same time so it had to remain a oneshot.
> 
> Second, this started out as a songfic for Plastic Love by Mariya Takeuchi (fantastic song, please listen) but has changed so much from the original concept that I can only claim that the song is a light inspiration.
> 
> I kept the location and time period for this piece ambiguous because I think it's applicable to a lot of different places and eras. The only thing is that I felt like the plot of this story would be heavily enhanced by being in the United States (since people in the service industry are horribly underpaid and make most of their money through tips) so that's why they use USD. However, overlooking that, this could really take place wherever you want.
> 
> Quick shout out: I'm helping run a new Bederia/DressedInPinkShipping discord server! Feel free to join using this link: https://discord.gg/c4p2KVS

Located in the middle of a business district, the lounge almost never had a slow night; many patrons wanted to have a drink and listen to some slow jazz before heading home from work. Bede didn’t mind it much; most of his customers were well-behaved, knowing that they shouldn’t get smashed at the lounge, especially on weeknights when they had to work the next day. Every so often, someone would have too much to drink and get a bit rowdy, but security worked quickly to keep the place as orderly as possible. Bede worked by himself behind the bar, and other than some short words over orders and bills, he didn’t have to speak often. It was an easy job to have, and Bede couldn’t complain.

It was there where he first met her.

She came in one Tuesday night wearing a simple white, button-up blouse and a flowing black skirt, her short, brown hair hanging loosely by her chin. Sitting at the bar, her attention was instantly caught by the musical performer, and she watched with her chin in her hands and her elbows resting on the top of the bar. Bede quietly watched her as he dried a glass carefully with a hand towel.

He thought that she might have been an office worker nearby, or had some other part-time position, but she didn’t fit in with his usual crowd of well-dressed salarymen and executives. She didn’t seem much older than Bede’s age, and not many young women spent time in the lounge, especially unaccompanied. Regardless, she didn’t seem like she was in a rush for her order, so Bede took his time.

Placing the dry glass next to its siblings and returning his towel to its own set place, Bede adjusted his rolled-up sleeves and made sure his suit vest and tie smoothed out, and then approached her.

“May I get you anything, miss?” he asked. His voice was smooth and soft, but her head still snapped towards him, surprised. Bede noticed a lock of her hair naturally curled outward, bouncing in the air from her head movement.

“Oh, sorry!” she said, a pink tinge on her cheeks. “An amaretto sour, please.”

Bede nodded, and before he had begun making her order, she was back to watching the stage. He had made a few amaretto sours in his time at the lounge, but usually for older customers. It was simply enough to make, and the citrus color certainly looked appetizing, though he had never tried it himself. He carefully stirred it with a short black straw, as to not accidentally sink the maraschino cherry perched atop the ice cubes.

The girl’s face lit up when he placed it carefully on a coaster in front of her. “Thank you!” she said, eagerly taking a sip from the straw. Her eyes closed and a smile broke out across her face, and her shoulders relaxed as a content sigh left her nose. _Perhaps I should try one_ , he thought as he watched her, amused.

The bar remained quiet for a while. A few other patrons came to order drinks, but they chose to sit at the scattered tables throughout the lounge; the girl was the only one who sat at the bar, and she was engrossed in the live performances. The acts had switched, and a duo with a baritone saxophone and bass had taken the stage, filling the room with their heavy sounds. The girl absentmindedly tapped along to the beat against the wood of the countertop, and every once in a while, she looked at Bede and gave him a sweet smile. Bede simply nodded in response each time, after checking to make sure she wasn’t trying to get his attention for another drink.

Bede and the girl were alone at the bar for about forty minutes before a young man entered the lounge, gasping for air with his suit jacket thrown messily over his arm. He franticly looked around, huffing heavily, before his eyes fell on the bar and the girl sitting at it. He rushed over and without warning, grabbed the girl’s shoulders and planted a large kiss on her cheek. The girl squeaked in surprise, but immediately her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.

“You’re _late_ ,” she growled.

“I know, baby, I’m so sorry,” the man said, grabbing the stool next to her and sitting at the bar. “I got caught up on a conference call and I just couldn’t get away.” He half waved at Bede to get his attention. “Whiskey, neat,” he ordered, and Bede nodded.

Bede was only half paying attention to the couple as he grabbed the bottle of whiskey off the shelf. He didn’t catch the particular words, but the girl kept her responses short at the man’s high-pitched, apologetic tone. Sneaking a glance, he noticed that, while the girl sounded angry, her expression seemed more bored than anything else. The man must have not noticed.

When Bede placed the drink on a coaster in front of him, the man immediately grabbed it and took a large swig. The girl quirked an eyebrow at her partner before turning and mouthing a quiet _thank you_ to him. Bede looked down and noticed that her sour was nearly gone, with less than a third left.

“Would you care for another drink, miss?” he asked.

She opened her mouth to reply, but the man interrupted her by slamming his drink down forcefully on the bar counter, ignoring the coaster. “No need, my man,” he said loudly, wrapping his arm around the girl and pulling her against him. “I’m taking this lovely lady out tonight, right honey?” he said, looking down at her.

The girl leaned into him and gave him a teasing look. “Is that so?” Her tone was flirtatious as she played with the collar of his shirt. “You kept me waiting for so long, though. The night isn’t as young anymore.”

The man gave her a toothy grin, grabbing his glass again. “Then let’s not waste anymore time.” He downed the rest of his whiskey, to Bede and the girl’s surprise, and shoved the empty glass into Bede’s hands. Reaching into his pocket, he tossed the girl his wallet and stood up from his stool. “Babe, pay the kid, I’m gonna go grab a cab.” He roughly ruffled her hair before heading towards the exit.

The girl watched him go until he disappeared from view, after which she relaxed her shoulders, rolled her eyes, and let out a large groan. “What a fucking idiot,” she snarked to herself, and she turned to Bede. “I’m sorry, you deserve better than that,” she apologized, fixing her hair.

“No matter, miss,” Bede waved away her apology, placing the empty glass below the counter. “Shall I bring you the bill?”

“Hm? Oh, no, that’s not necessary.” She opened the man’s wallet and pulled out a hefty stack of $100 bills from inside, dropping the wallet on the counter carelessly. She casually flipped through them, quietly counting to herself. She then surveyed the room around her, mumbling some more. Finally, she turned to Bede with a large smile, her eyes shining mischievously.

“Okay!” she exclaimed happily. She separated two bills from her hand and placed them in a stack on the counter. “These are for the wonderful performers I watched, one for each act,” she explained, tapping the top of the bills. Separating out five more bills, she placed them in a separate stack and pointed to them. “This is for the five waitstaff, one for each.” Three more bills were pulled out of her hand and put in a third stack on the counter. “And this should cover the drinks; the rest is your tip.”

She waved the remaining bills in the air, winking at Bede. “I’ll make sure the rest of these are gone soon, don’t worry!” She grabbed the wallet off the counter, turning to leave.

“Have a good night!” she waved as she walked away, and Bede watched her pass another bill to the security guard near the door on her way out.

Bede looked down at the stacks on money in front of him, dumbfounded. Of course, being in the business district, the lounge was often visited by some very wealthy patrons, and Bede was often tipped well. Being tipped 1400% for two drinks, however, was a different story, especially in addition to extreme tips for the performers and the waitstaff. Shaking his head to snap out of his befuddlement, Bede moved the bills to under the counter, opting to deal with dispersing them after cleaning up. Picking up the girl’s glass, he noticed that she hadn’t even been able to finish her amaretto sour, the remaining ice cubes still being mostly covered by the cocktail.

Curious, Bede repositioned the small, black straw in front of him and took a sip.

The combined flavor of the sweet syrup and liqueur and the sour citrus had his taste buds buzzing, and Bede found himself liking the aftertaste. He may need to have one for himself more often.

\----

The girl showed up again later that same week, on Saturday night. This time, she had a different man waiting for her at the bar when she arrived, and she greeted him as she sat next to him. Her outfit was flashy and definitely not a work outfit, but it didn’t stick out among the other patrons that evening; weekend customers were always dressed as though they were going to some high-profile event. 

The two chatted for a bit, and Bede was too busy tending to other customers to pay attention. This new man seemed a bit older than the previous, but he had a calmer energy to him. He was dressed just as flashily, and when he had ordered a gin and tonic earlier, Bede had not failed to notice the large, diamond ring on his left hand, resting next to an obvious wedding band.

Once Bede had finished with the other customers, he approached the two. The girl must have seen him out of her periphery, however, as she immediately turned towards him before he arrived.

“Hello there!” she greeted, a wide smile on her face.

“Pleasure to see you again, miss.” Bede gave a slight bow. “May I get you anything?”

“An amaretto sour, thank you!”

As Bede turned to make her cocktail, he heard the man next to her comment, “Oh? I didn’t think this was your sort of joint.”

“I actually came here for the first time earlier this week. I wish I knew about this place earlier!” she responded.

Naturally, Bede was curious as to what had happened to the previous man, especially after the girl had taken his money and generously shared it with everyone, but he could only theorize. The girl thanked him when he delivered her drink, and the man next to her rested his head in his hand, watching her as she excitedly took a sip. Bede noticed that the wedding band on his hand had mysteriously disappeared, though the diamond ring remained.

Unlike last time, the girl and her partner didn’t run off to go elsewhere, and instead stayed at the bar drinking and talking. Bede kept a curious eye on them, especially after he noticed that the girl kept urging the man to order more drinks for himself. “A little buzz never hurt anyone, don’t you think?” she had said, resting her hand on his arm. The man had stared at her hand for a moment before ordering a straight glass of gin. The process would repeat every ten minutes or so until the man was red in the face and laughing loudly at everything the girl said. The girl herself had drank her amaretto sours much more slowly, though even she had ordered about two or three over the course of the night.

Bede had considered cutting him off before this had happened, but every so often the girl would throw him a mischievous wink, and Bede had to admit that he was curious as to what she had planned.

About an hour and a half into their date, the man rested his head on the counter, mumbling so quietly that the girl had to lean in to hear him.

“Oh dear,” she said, patting the top of his head. “Looks like you had a bit too much, huh?” She reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his wallet. “Sweetheart, why don’t you go wash up in the bathroom while I take care of the bill? I’ll get you a cab home afterwards.” The man mumbled some more, but he nodded and stumbled his way over to the restrooms.

Once he was gone, the girl laughed a bit to herself, waving Bede over. Bede had been close by anyway, but she urged him closer so she could keep her voice down.

“You probably think I’m an escort or something,” she giggled a bit to herself, “showing up with these rich men twice in the same week.”

Bede blinked, caught off guard. “Miss, I assure you that your profession, whatever it may be, is of no concern of mine, and I wouldn’t have an opinion one way or another.”

The girl’s eyes shined, and she rested her cheek against her palm. “That’s nice of you to say! Still, I wanted to let you know nothing like that is happening at your bar, at least not on my end.” She popped open the man’s wallet and pulled out a credit card, offering it to Bede.

“This is paying for everyone here,” she explained. “Drinks, meals, whatever; I’m covering it, each with a 30% tip. Make it 50% for you.”

Bede must have looked shocked because the girl immediately burst into laughter. “Don’t worry, he’s too drunk to remember. It’s not like he does his own finances anyway.” She pushed the card into Bede’s hands urgently. “Now hurry, get it started before he comes back.”

Bede, while he was still confused, immediately went to work, pulling up each of the ongoing bills and swiping the card for each. He waved over one of the nearby waiters and pulled him in close. “Don’t make a fuss over it,” he muttered, “but a rich patron is covering everyone’s bill tonight.” The waiter was understandably stunned, but he agreed to let the other waitstaff and customers know.

By the time Bede had finished, the man had returned from the bathroom, his head rested in his folded arms on the counter while the girl rubbed his back.

“Are we all set?” the girl asked, a gleam in her eye.

“I just need the man’s signature,” Bede responded slowly, holding a receipt in his hand with the credit card. The girl managed to get the man to sign in his drunken stupor and the two left the bar, the girl waving goodbye to him as she left.

Bede found himself waving back, though he was still as stupefied as ever.

Who _was_ this girl?

\----

By the fourth time she showed up with a fourth new man, trying to pull a similar stunt, Bede found himself stepping in.

“This could be dangerous,” he said, as she held out a stack of bills to him that definitely were not hers, her partner in the restroom.

She was taken aback, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “What do you mean?”

Bede sighed, looking around cautiously before leaning in close enough to her face that he could count her eyelashes. “I don’t know why you’re doing this, and I won’t fault you for how generous you’ve been to this lounge. However, these men are _powerful_. If they find out what you’re doing, they could harm you.”

The girl looked at Bede for a moment and took a deep breathe. Quickly checking her surroundings, she found the clock on the wall. “It’s 11:30pm now,” she said, but Bede wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or herself. Looking back at Bede, she put the money on the counter. “Keep the tab open and hold onto this for now. I’ll be back at 1am, and I’ll explain then.”

Once the man came back from the bathroom, the girl looped her arm through his and led him towards the exit. Bede watched them go, and when the girl shot him a look over her shoulder, the stack of money felt heavy in his pocket.

The bar kept Bede busy in the meantime, but he still found himself checking the clock every few minutes, waiting for 1am to roll around. He wasn’t sure why he was getting so anxious; perhaps it was because the girl had proven herself interesting, and Bede’s curiosity was getting the best of him. He couldn’t say that he morally disagreed with what she was doing; he worked in the service industry for tips, and naturally he had his share of bad experiences with the obnoxiously wealthy. Still, it was a dangerous stunt to try to pull, and he knew that these rich men wouldn’t take kindly to the girl taking their money, even if she was being charitable with it.

After midnight, the patrons started to slow, many leaving to go barhopping or go to another event, and when the girl showed up, there was no one left sitting at the bar. The band on stage were playing a slow tune, fitting the calm energy of the lounge well. Without her ordering, Bede prepared her an amaretto sour, and he found himself preparing one for himself as well.

The girl seemed surprised when he brought the drinks over and rested his elbows on the counter, but she happily accepted and held her glass up to him. Without a word, the two toasted their glasses and each took a sip.

Placing her glass down on a coaster, she looked at him. “I don’t actually know your name,” she said.

Bede put his own drink down and put his hand in his head. “Bede,” he replied simply. “My name is Bede.”

“Bede,” she repeated, playing with the sounds on her tongue. “I like that name a lot,” she giggled. She twirled the ice cubes in her glass with a straw. “I’ve gotta be careful with giving my name out; these men all know me by different ones.”

“Ah.” Bede took another sip of his drink. “Is this the part where you explain why you’re stealing from your dates?”

The girl rolled her eyes. “If what I’m doing is considered ‘dating,’ then relationships are more depressing than I thought.” She sipped from her own glass. “Listen, I work for minimum wage, I could be doing a lot worse with their money.”

“How long have you been doing this?” Bede asked.

“A couple months now? It started as an accident; my boss took a bunch of us out for drinks and had me pay, and I accidentally overtipped by a lot. I was _so_ stressed, and I was constantly waiting for him to yell at me and fire me, but guess what?” She leaned in closer. “He _never_ did. He paid off his credit card without even looking it over the charges and he still doesn’t know about it.”

She turned to look at the stage but kept talking. “I realized that these people are so rich that when dealing with hundreds of dollars or even thousands of dollars, it’s just chump change. To them, it’s like losing a quarter, and they don’t even notice.” She turned back to Bede, her eyebrows furrowed. “Do you know what I could do with the kind of money that these people just _throw away_?”

Bede’s finger traced the rim of his drink. “Trust me, I’m aware. I assume you and I are in the same economic class in terms of income.”

The girl drank her sour and continued. “I knew that I would get caught if I took the money for my own sake; I’d get audited almost immediately. But I thought about how poorly people at these clubs and restaurants around here get treated by these rich assholes, and I wanted to do something for them. Most of their income is just tips anyway, so I figured that no one would bat an eye if they just got something a little extra, especially since they work in the business district.”

The girl twirled her hair with her finger. “I actually tested it out. One of my childhood friends, this guy named Hop, works at a restaurant near my building, and I took one of these men there for dinner. Once he wasn’t looking, I changed the tip from $2 to $200 and waited a bit to see what would happen. The guy never noticed and Hop managed to get a couple extra hundred bucks with no problem.”

Bede quirked an eyebrow at her. “Quite the Robin Hood figure, aren’t you?”

The girl blushed and waved her hand in front of her face. “I don’t know if I’d go _that_ far. I just get hit on by a lot of rich jerks, so I’m just using it as an opportunity to help some people.”

Bede watched her quietly for a minute. She was very pretty, even he could see that, so he could easily believe that she’d be popular in the business district. Still, the men in the district were definitely not the passive type, especially with alcohol involved. He frowned.

“How do you stay safe?” he asked, breaking the silence. “The business men I’ve seen can be incredibly aggressive, and I would hate for something to happen to you.”

“Oh, I’ve got a whole system set up!” she replied. “I have some people close by whenever I do this, just in case something goes wrong. I never go home with anyone or go anywhere that’s not filled with people. Also, like I said, I give them a fake name, so when I eventually dump them and move on, they can’t find me so easily.”

The girl’s gaze softened, and a warm smile broke across her face. “It’s really sweet that you’d be so concerned over me, though.” Her tone took on a flirtatious vibe, and Bede quickly drank his own amaretto sour to hide how hot his cheeks felt. The girl giggled.

Finishing his drink, Bede leaned back from the counter, popping something in his back. He pulled the stack of bills out of his pocket, shuffling through them with his thumb. “Well, your previous suitor’s tab is still open, and I’ve heard from a private source that he’ll be covering our bill tonight.” He smirked. “Shall I get you another drink, Robin Hood?”

The girl choked while taking a sip and was coughing and laughing at the same time. “Oh _God_ ,” she said between coughs, “don’t start calling me _that_.” Bede couldn’t help snickering at her reaction, and she threw him a playfully angry look.

“Since you were nice enough to tell me your name, it’s only fair that I tell you mine,” she said, finishing off her own drink. “My real name is Gloria.”

“Gloria, is it?” Bede replied. “Well, your secret is safe with me. I’ll make you another sour.”

\----

The next few weeks at the lounge played out roughly the same. Gloria would come in about once a week, maybe twice a week, and every time would meet a different man. Bede would take the money that Gloria would steal, whether it be cash or credit card, and made sure that each staff member and performer that night were generously tipped. Gloria didn’t have a set schedule, but every time she came in alone, Bede made her an amaretto sour and the two would talk while they waited for Gloria’s next victim.

Gloria had told him that she was an assistant in a nearby marketing firm, and even though she worked full-time and was well educated, her ridiculously small salary was only enough to pay for necessities, like rent and food. She was in the process of looking for another job, but it was proving to be exceptionally difficult, since most positions didn’t offer much more than her current one or companies would just never contact her.

Bede had shared his own tale, that he had worked in restaurants for most of his adolescence and immediately moved to bartending once he was old enough for the higher pay. The lounge was by far his favorite job, as the music was excellent, and the atmosphere was pleasant to be in. He had grown up poor, so opportunities hadn’t come easily, but he was now reaching a point where he was living comfortably, even if it wasn’t glamorously.

Bede found himself enjoying Gloria’s company, but it was always short-lived as her date would inevitably come and take up Gloria’s time. Still, he enjoyed watching her act the part, and some of her alias choices he found absolutely hilarious.

“Your drink, Miss _Heather_ ,” he had mockingly said one night when she arrived with a man on her arm, and when her date wasn’t looking, she had stuck her tongue out at him, and Bede had quietly laughed.

Gloria had kept some of the same men in the rotation rather than dumping them completely, including the man from the second time she had come to the lounge. Her justification, as she explained to Bede, was “if the scumbag is gonna blatantly cheat on his wife, he should at least get punished for it.” Bede couldn’t argue with that logic; it’s not like he had any sympathy for the man to begin with.

One weekend evening, Gloria showed up with a young entrepreneur, dressed head to toe in designer clothes and almost too willing to pass his business card to Bede without being asked.

“I’m always looking to hire cute employees, regardless of gender,” he said with a wink. Bede withheld a grimace and thanked him for the consideration, and immediately poured himself a shot of tequila once the man went back to paying attention to Gloria.

Their conversation was very one sided, with the man talking the whole time while Gloria struggled to act interested. After about thirty minutes, he received a business call and went outside the lounge to take it. Gloria had turned to Bede at that point and requested that he put her out of her misery by breaking a bottle of wine over her head.

“You’re doing fine,” Bede had said, pouring a tequila shot for Gloria, which she immediately drank. “It’s only for tonight.”

“It’s not worth it,” Gloria groaned.

When the man came back after a few minutes, he picked up his suit jacket and threw it on. “I’m terribly sorry, my dear, but I must be going to meet a potential client for dinner. I feel awful about cutting our date so short,” he paused to pull a small box out of his pocket and hand it to Gloria, “but I wanted to give you these. I saw them in a window, and I thought they would be perfect for you.”

Reaching into his wallet, he pulled out a small stack of bills and gave them to Gloria as well. “Order yourself something expensive, love. It’s on me.” With a quick kiss to her forehead, he strutted out, leaving both Gloria and Bede dumbfounded.

“That makes things surprisingly simple,” Bede snarked.

Gloria curiously opened the box, revealing two large, beautiful diamond-studded earrings. Bede leaned over the counter to get a good look at them. “Well, that is one way to make up for leaving a date early,” he said with his eyebrows raised.

Gloria stared at them. “I don’t even have my _ears pierced_ ,” she said. “What am I supposed to do with these?”

Bede thought for a moment, looking around the lounge. His eyes fell on a middle-aged couple sitting at a small table near the bar, and an idea popped into his head.

“If I may?” he asked, holding out his empty palm. Gloria gave him a skeptical look, but nonetheless closed the box and placed it in his hand.

Bede walked out from behind the bar and over to the couple’s table, Gloria watching him the entire time. He held the box behind his back, and gently coughed to get the couple’s attention.

“Terribly sorry for interrupting,” Bede began, his free hand spread across his chest as he gave a slight bow. “However, a patron seemed to have left these at the bar. We unfortunately do not have a way to contact them, but I couldn’t help noticing how much these would suit this beautiful young lady here,” he gestured to the woman at the table and placed the box in front of her. “I hope you’ll accept them.”

Bede walked away from the table, and while he didn’t witness the reaction, the large gasp from the woman was all he needed to hear. Gloria had her hand over her mouth, a wide grin hiding beneath it, and Bede gave her a smirk when he returned to behind the bar.

The woman’s voice rang out in the room, as well as the soft _thud_ of her hitting her spouse with her purse: “ _You_ ’ve never bought me anything this nice!”

Bede ducked underneath the bar to let out his laughter while Gloria poorly muffled her own with her hand, wiping at her tears with a spare napkin.

\----

It had been a full week since Gloria’s last appearance, and Bede found himself missing her. One of the waiters had told him earlier that he managed to book a vacation for him and his girlfriend due to “the really generous tips they’d been getting over the past month or so.” It was a small thing, but Bede was genuinely happy to hear that Gloria’s scheming had at least made one person’s life better.

Bede had been no slouch either in treating himself; while most of the money had gone into a savings account or towards paying bills, he did update his personal wardrobe with some nice additions. He had considered taking himself out for a meal, but to be honest, it felt lonely to do it by himself.

It was late on Thursday night, so the lounge had mostly cleaned out, customers going home to get some sleep before work the next day. About an hour before the bar closed, Gloria walked in and sat at the counter. She was wearing a white collared blouse tucked into some high-waisted pants, but a black bow was tied into a ribbon underneath her collar.

“Hi there,” she greeted him sweetly. Bede smiled back.

“Well, hello,” he responded. “I was wondering where you were. I would think this time was a bit late for your usual dates.”

Gloria shook her head. “No dates, I wanted to come by myself tonight.”

Bede gave her a surprised look, but he grinned. “I can manage that. Let me make you a drink.”

The two toasted their amaretto sours and Bede filled her in on what his coworker had told him. As he expected, Gloria was ecstatic and so excited that her plan had worked.

“I have some good news, too,” she said, taking a sip of her drink. “I got a new job!”

“Oh?” Bede replied.

Gloria nodded enthusiastically. “I’m still working as an assistant, but they’re paying me a lot more now. And I’m actually working for a _woman_! She’s not a CEO or anything, but she was so nice when I met her, and I can’t wait to start next week!”

“Congratulations!” Bede said with a genuine smile. Gloria beamed.

“The best part is that it’s still in the business district, so I don’t have to move or anything,” she said, “and I can keep coming here!”

Bede laughed. “I don’t know, I would think that actually making a decent wage and working for an executive woman would throw a wrench in your whole operation.”

“Yeah, well,” Gloria said, and looked down at her drink, “it wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be, anyway.”

Bede raised an eyebrow at her. “Is that so? I thought you enjoyed your Robin Hood role a great deal.”

She rolled her eyes but there was a smirk on her face. “I did, don’t worry. I would steal from rich assholes any day,” she said. “It’s just that there was a tiny, little, _major_ flaw in the whole thing.”

“And that was?”

“ _Weeeeeell_ , it turns out, when you have to play the role of being on fake dates with several men…” she paused, moving one hand to gently rest on top of Bede’s, which was resting on the countertop, “…it takes away from getting to know people you _actually_ want to spend time with.”

Bede stiffened, his gaze rapidly switching between the hand on top of his and Gloria’s eyes. After a brief second, he relaxed and, cautiously, threaded his fingers together with hers. “I noticed that flaw as well,” he murmured, not breaking eye contact as he downed the rest of his drink.

Gloria didn’t say anything, but she hesitantly leaned forward over the counter. Bede leaned in as well, close enough to see the specs of deep brown in her irises as he rested his forehead against hers. They looked at one another like this before Gloria closed her eyes and gently pressed her lips against his. Bede returned the gesture, using his free hand to hold Gloria’s face and pull her in closer. Her lips were soft against his, and Bede could taste the lemon juice of her drink in her kiss. Her free hand came up and rested on his shoulder, her fingers slightly wrinkling his work clothes in her grip.

They separated after a minute, their faces both dusted pink. Their foreheads stayed together, but Gloria immediately started giggling, moving her hand from his shoulder to his cheek while the hand still holding Bede’s squeezed his fingers.

“You taste like amaretto,” she giggled, and Bede face burst into a full grin.

“You do, too,” he replied, and they both sat there and laughed together.

Gloria eventually leaned back in her chair, grabbing her amaretto sour. “So,” she began, finishing her drink in one gulp and placing the glass on the counter, “shall I get to know you better?”

Bede smirked, pulling their entwined hands up to his mouth and softly running over Gloria’s knuckles with his lips. Gloria’s face turned red.

“Where do you want to start?” he purred.

**Author's Note:**

> I love this story a lot, I really like how it evolved and turned out, so I hope you did too!
> 
> Step by Step returns soon, don't worry!
> 
> Tumblr: https://strategicdilemma.tumblr.com/  
> Bederia server: https://discord.gg/c4p2KVS


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